HOOVER, Ala. — It was not the vicious feeding frenzy some thought it would be.

There had been speculation that Kentucky media would ask Bobby Petrino about leaving Louisville for an ill-fated stint with the Atlanta Falcons, and that the Atlanta media would grill Petrino — again — about leaving the Falcons with three games remaining to take the Arkansas job.

The questions that did arise Friday at SEC media days were civilized, and Petrino answered them quickly and efficiently.

There is no wasted time, motion or words with Petrino.

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He admitted the timing was bad when left the Falcons, but that he was very happy to be at Arkansas. In fact, he was a oneman public relations campaign for the Natural State and especially the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Petrino has never been specific, but if you think about it logically, he couldn’t have finished the NFL season and still have taken the Arkansas job.

There was no way Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long could wait three weeks to hire a new coach because other schools were already flocking into the state, trying to steal a very talented senior class that had committed to the Razorbacks.

Oral commitments are not binding.

So Long met with Petrino and his wife in Atlanta, offered him a contract that had a salary of $ 2. 85 million per year, and Petrino signed it without negotiations.

A few hours later, he was introduced as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, and Long had pulled off a major coup by landing a coach who had won 82 percent of his games at Louisville.

A coach who has a reputation for being innovative, hardworking and disciplined.

Of all the coaches Long interviewed, Petrino was far and away the best coach. Atlanta’s loss was Arkansas’ gain.

“We landed on our feet, that’s for sure,” said Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and a former Razorback who still loves the program.

Everyone knows what happened in the aftermath of the move. ESPN’s NFL experts verbally beheaded Petrino, something he says he didn’t pay attention to but did warn his new players about immediately.

“Coach told us this was an opportunity he had to jump on,” first-team All-SEC center Jonathan Luigs said. “He told us we might hear some bad things about him but that him leaving Atlanta was inevitable.”

So a few questions Friday at the SEC football media days were inevitable, and Petrino handled them quickly and easily because he anticipated them.

His opening statement proved that.

“I’m excited to be back in college football, certainly excited to be at the University of Arkansas,” he said. “Since I’ve been in this state, the state has certainly embraced me and my family.”

Unlike most of the coaches, Petrino didn’t make a simple opening statement and then throw it open to questions.

He went on to talk about strengths — the offensive and defensive lines — and weaknesses, mentioning several times that the Razorbacks were counting on some of the talented freshmen to help.

When the question came up about the Oct. 25 game against Ole Miss, he had the perfect answer: “I do think our players understand that, you know, it’s not us playing Coach [Houston ] Nutt. It is our players playing against their players.”

Petrino drew a room full of laughter after our man Tom Murphy asked where does coming here and facing the questions and meeting the great reporters rank on the list of things he had to do.

“Oh, right at the top,” he said. “It is my favorite thing.”

Media days are not any coach’s favorite thing, but it is something they understand is necessary and gives them exposure in areas where they seldom get any, or at least any positive exposure.

Before he ever took the podium, though, Petrino made a very positive move by meeting separately with the majority of the radio people who were here covering the event.

Then Bobby Petrino did what he does best. He took center stage and was himself.